New targeting rule for high school football: Will now be penalized as illegal personal contact

Friday

Apr 4, 2014 at 3:55 PMApr 4, 2014 at 6:09 PM

Daily News Sports Editor Bill Choy@SDNBillChoy

At high school football fields nationwide this fall, there will be a new rule in effect in regards to targeting.The National Federation of State High School Associations Football Rules Committee has developed a definition for “targeting,” which will be penalized as illegal personal contact.In Siskiyou County, coaches said that it’s a positive to have a rule in place like this to protect players, although they believe it will take time for players and officials to get used to, and it will be interesting to see how this new rule change is enforced.According to the NFHS website, “effective with the 2014 high school season, new Rule 2-43 will read as follows: “Targeting is an act of taking aim and initiating contact to an opponent above the shoulders with the helmet, forearm, hand, fist, elbow or shoulders.”“Taking aim with the helmet, forearm, hand, fist, elbow or shoulders to initiate contact above the shoulders, which goes beyond making a legal tackle, a legal block or playing the ball, will be prohibited,” Bob Colgate, NFHS director of sports and sports medicine and liaison to the Football Rules Committee said in a story on the NFHS website.Etna High head football coach Wade Dickinson likes the new rule, he said.“It is designed for the safety of the players and to me that is a good thing,” he said. “As far as coaching this new rule, I do not see that we will have to make any adjustments. I do not think anyone teaches to go above the shoulder pads. It is always our goal to teach good tackling technique, and never do we emphasize tackling high.”“Unfortunately,” Dickinson added, “there are times in the game of football that occasionally there are hits higher than the shoulder pads. We will emphasize the importance of staying low. Overall, I do not see this really having a negative impact on the game.”Longtime Yreka High head football coach Orlyn Culp said that the “new ruling on targeting a defenseless player is a good rule. How it is interpreted in the “heat of the moment” on Friday nights will be challenging to some coaches, but, if it's about player safety, it’s a good rule.“It will take time for everyone to get used to this rule “and there will be errors, but they’ll be errors on the side of caution,” Culp said.He added that concussions are certainly a concern and this is a way to address these worries and protect players from suffering serious injuries.“It’s a good addition,” Culp said about the new rule. “I’ve never been a fan of a cheap shot.”While he emphasized that he understands not all hits like this are on purpose or cheap shots, he said he believes it will help the game of high school football overall.Dunsmuir High head football coach Chris Ballard said it’s important to keep players safe but admitted to having “mixed feelings” about the new targeting rule.After all, he said, “football is a fast game” and hits like this are going to happen at times regardless of how much players are trying not to. Ballard said that no one is purposely trying to hurt other players, but in a high contact sport like football, injuries do happen.During certain plays, Ballard said, “it will be hard for players to stop in time,” and a hit may be made that could not be helped but may be considered a penalty under the new rule. “No one in our league is trying to put someone out of a game or we’re trying to puts someone out of a game,” he said.Ballard said things like helmet-to-helmet hits are going to happen, but players need to adjust accordingly.“I understand trying to protect players and being safe,” Ballard said about the new rule “That’s the No. 1 goal in any sport.”Culp said that in California there could be a strict law in place in regards to high school football in the near future. California Assembly Bill 2127, which is currently in committee, could go into effect in 2015 if it passes. While it could change, currently, the bill would put a limit on full contact practices for high school and middle school football teams per week. Currently, there are no limits to the amount of full contact practices in California. It would also completely prohibit full-contact practice during the off-season.An overview of the proposal can be found at http://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB2127/2013.

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